The Prague-based energy company, PRE, has announced that new electricity and gas tariffs will be available to customers from March 15, which will be lower than the government’s imposed caps and substantially cheaper than the current tariffs. The company disclosed this information in a press release on Thursday. The new tariffs, named PROUD FIX and PLYN FIX, will be accessible to both new and existing customers, with a prerequisite that the prices will remain fixed until the end of 2024. The cost of electricity at the most popular distribution tariff, D02d, will be 4.74 CZK per kWh, excluding VAT. Meanwhile, customers who use electricity for heating and water heating purposes will pay 4.64 CZK per kWh for the high tariff and 4.44 CZK for the low tariff. PRE gas will be offered at 2.08 CZK per kWh, which is 420 CZK below the government-imposed caps when measured in one megawatt. “The new offer is aimed at conservative customers who prefer to have a guaranteed price for a specific duration. It also targets individuals who are apprehensive about the possibility of any future electricity price hikes,” the company stated. All major suppliers – E.ON, Innogy, Pražská plynárenská, MND and ČEZ –...
Producer prices in the Czech Republic continue to rise by tens of percent. According to data released by the Czech Statistical Office, they were up 25.5 percent in agriculture, 19 percent in industry, and 11.4 percent in construction. The prices of market services for businesses also rose year-on-year by 6.3 percent. However, the year-on-year price growth slowed down in all these groups compared to December. Compared to last January, potato prices rose by 43.1 percent, and egg prices rose by 82.7 percent. For example, in industry, the prices of electricity, gas, steam, and air-conditioned air rose by 35.7 percent, and those of coal, lignite, and lignite by 82 percent. In the construction sector, prices of materials and products consumed rose by 14.3 percent year-on-year in January. In services, employment-related prices rose by 27.6 percent, programming prices rose by 9.1 percent, warehousing and transportation support services rose by 5.5 percent, and advertising and market research services rose by 6.4 percent. “The January manufacturing price results do not look favorable as they confirm the continuation of the inflationary wave in much of the economy. While we can be pleased with the lower year-on-year figures, these are attributable to the calculation from a...
International comparisons are popular in the Czech Republic, whether it’s measuring per capita beer consumption or gross domestic product. Well-known economists and politicians also engage in this sport. Two years ago, former PM Andrej Babiš boasted that the Czech Republic had overtaken Spain in living standards, claiming, “today we are like Italy.” In terms of GDP per capita in purchasing power parity, this claim would have been true two years ago and still holds some weight today. According to the International Monetary Fund’s 2022 data, the Czech Republic ranks 35th with $48,919, Spain is in 37th place with $46,551, and Italy is in 31st place with $51,062. Japan, on the other hand, is slightly behind the Czech Republic in 36th place with $48,813. However, GDP alone doesn’t accurately measure living standards. The Human Development Index (HDI) is a more comprehensive indicator, measuring human health, educational attainment, and material living standards. The HDI ranges from zero for the least developed countries to one for the most developed. According to the United Nations’ HDI, the Czech Republic (0.889) still lags behind Italy (0.895), Spain (0.905), Japan (0.925), and even Slovenia (0.918). The Czech Republic’s score is similar to Estonia (0.890) and Greece...
On February 25, 2018, Milion chvilek pro demokracii (lit. ‘A Million Moments for Democracy’) was conceived as a petition for Andrej Babiš’ resignation from parliament, arguing that someone under criminal investigation should not be allowed to hold the position of Prime Minister. Although they fell short of their goal for one million signatures, the organization has continued to maintain a strong civic presence within the Czech republic, urging for greater accountability in government and greater civic participation. They are predominantly funded through private donations and fundraisers. We met Hana Strašáková, spokesperson for Milion chvilek pro demokracii. “Over the five years of our activity, we have gathered know-how on how to talk to those who do not vote for democratic political parties and who do not agree with Million of Moments. … Our goal will undoubtedly be to unite all the people who care about the future of our country. And that will undoubtedly require a greater focus on non-urban citizens.” Earlier this year, Petr Pavel was elected President of the Czech Republic after two rounds of voting,receiving 35.40% of votes in the first round and 58.31% in the second. Prior to being elected President, Petr Pavel served as the Chairman...
Czech housing transactions dropped by 50% last year to a 10-year low, as soaring inflation, high-interest rates and the war in Ukraine scared buyers, data from the Czech Banking Association (CBA) and Dataligence showed on Wednesday. Dataligence CEO Milan Rocek said demand culminated in late 2021, with the market short of apartments on offer, but the start of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 brought an abrupt change. “Higher energy prices, a sharp rise in inflation, that all changed people’s mood,” he said. “This was multiplied by the growth of mortgage interest rates. The real estate market practically froze in the second half because of that.” The number of new mortgages fell to a 20-year low last year while the volume was the lowest in a decade, the survey said. New mortgage volumes for the full year, excluding refinancing, dropped by 57%, CBA had reported earlier, as official interest rates soared to 7% last year from 0.25% the year before. The CBA has reported an 82% year-on-year drop in new mortgages in December alone. Despite the drop in volumes, prices gained as supply continued to be tight. Prices of older apartments reached a peak around mid-2022 but still showed...
Fresh from his visit to Ukraine, US President Joe Biden will rally NATO’s eastern allies in Poland on Wednesday (22 February), a group of countries in which most – but not all – are strong supporters of military aid to Ukraine. Biden used the trip to rally support for Ukraine as the war enters its second year, with no end in sight, and it came on the same day as a speech by Russian President Vladimir Putin in which he accused the West of seeking Russia’s destruction and dangled the threat of nuclear war. Before returning to Washington on Wednesday, Biden will meet leaders of the Bucharest Nine, the countries on NATO’s eastern flank, to reaffirm support for their security. The ‘Bucharest Nine’ (B9) was founded on 4 November 2015 in Bucharest, at the initiative of the President of Romania Klaus Iohannis and the President of Poland Andrzej Duda during a bilateral meeting between them. It gathers the Presidents of Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Poland, Romania and Slovakia. All joined the Western military alliance after being dominated by Moscow during the Cold War, and most, with the notable exceptions of Hungary and Bulgaria, are now among...
Czech President-elect Petr Pavel has irritated the Ukrainian government by calling for realism in the country’s ongoing conflict with Russia and warning against pushing for a result that could see the collapse of Russia and lead to greater problems for the region. Pavel offered his thoughts on the war during the Munich Security Conference on Saturday. He said an attempt to liberate some parts of Ukraine from occupied Russian forces would inevitably lead to “unbearable loss of life” and Ukraine and its allies should “prepare for the worst.” “We need to be careful about pushing Ukraine to a certain result. Maybe at some point, Ukraine will change its vision,” the former NATO general added. Pavel, who will succeed outgoing Czech President Miloš Zeman on March 9, argued that a resounding Ukrainian victory that resulted in the collapse of the Russian Federation could be catastrophic for the region, and the West should avoid advocating for such a result. “It is possible that this will lead to the collapse of Russia,” Pavel said, referring to a Ukrainian victory that sees the country liberate and retain the entirety of its territory. “If Russia collapses, then we may have more problems, we have no...
The Czech Republic’s incoming president said the only limit to weapons deliveries to Ukraine should be nuclear arms, and he expressed confidence that Ukrainian forces can defeat Russia. Petr Pavel, a retired NATO general who takes office in March, also said President Vladimir Putin’s government isn’t the only one to possess nuclear weapons. “I believe that we shouldn’t put any cap on equipment,” Pavel told Bloomberg Television in an interview in Prague Friday. “The only exception is nuclear weapons and direct involvement of NATO in the conflict.” Pavel secured a convincing victory over billionaire former Prime Minister Andrej Babis on Saturday after a campaign that pledged to return the Czech Republic’s highest office to the European mainstream. Pavel has vocally denounced Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and called for more arms deliveries to Kyiv. “Ukraine can defeat Russia on Ukrainian soil,” Pavel said. “That means to push Russian forces out of Ukraine and restore full territorial integrity and full sovereignty of Ukraine.” The incoming president also warned that NATO members’ possession of nuclear weapons should act as a deterrent to any Russian considerations of atomic arms. “We have nuclear capability as well,” Pavel said. “We don’t want to use it at...
“Ukraine deserves to join NATO as soon as Russia’s war on the country ends,” said the newly elected Czech President Petr Pavel to BBC. The retired NATO general added that Ukraine should be “morally and practically ready” to join the alliance once the conflict is over. “Ukraine deserves to be part of the community of democratic countries,” Pavel said in his first interview with the foreign press. Regarding Western military support to Ukraine, Pavel said that there ought to be almost no limits on what countries could send to the Kyiv government. “We have no alternative,” said the president-elect. “If they lose – we all lose,” added Pavel, who said the handover of fighter jets was not taboo. But he fears the delivery of the warplanes could be too slow. “I am proud of my country being one of the first to provide Ukraine with significant military help,” he told the BBC. The Czech Republic was the first Western country to send tanks and infantry fighting vehicles – Soviet-designed T72s and BMP1s – to Kyiv, part of a series of deliveries of heavy weapons that reportedly began as early as March 2022. “Peace depends entirely on Russia and we would...
The Czech economy contracted further in the fourth quarter, the statistics office said on Tuesday, pushing the central European country into a technical recession for the first time since 2020 as high inflation hit households at the end of the year. With other central European economies fighting off recession risks, the Czech data on Tuesday was the first in the region to show two quarterly contractions in a row. Czech gross domestic product (GDP) decreased by 0.3% quarter-on-quarter, following a 0.2% drop in the third quarter, but was better than a Reuters poll forecast of a 0.6% fall. It was the first drop in consecutive quarters since the coronavirus pandemic hit in the first half of 2020. On a year-on-year basis, the economy rose 0.4%, also better than expected, but slowing from a 1.5% increase in the previous quarter. Banka Creditas chief economist Petr Dufek said the fourth-quarter figure was decent given the fall in purchasing power. “Weakening domestic demand was compensated by better foreign trade and investments,” he said, adding the economy is expected to remain weak at the start of 2023. For the full year, the Czech economy rose 2.5%, which follows Poland on Monday reporting a 4.9%...
The Czech Republic is a country that is unfortunately still rife with gender inequalities. The new first lady, Eva Pavlova seeks to correct this issue, claiming that she wants to help single mothers and discrimination against women in society. Indeed, statistics make it clear that this is an ongoing issue, within the Czech Republic, only 28.4% of women hold managerial positions compared to the 34.7% EU average. Similarly, women in the Czech Republic earn 16.4% less than their male counterparts compared to the 13% EU average and a far cry from the 0.7% gender pay gap in Luxembourg. Furthermore, this is even though women in the Czech Republic are generally better educated than men, with almost 30% of women possessing tertiary education compared to 23.6% of men. It’s also clear that outside of the system societal discrimination against women in the workforce, there is also an issue regarding single-parent families. According to SocialWatch, 87% single-parent households are made up of single mothers. Therefore, single-parenthood is predominantly an issue that affects women, although single fathers also face similar issues. These issues most notably that single parents are 2.8 times more likely to be threatened by poverty even if employed. Moreover, they...
The Chinese foreign ministry said on Monday it was in touch with Prague over President-elect Petr Pavel’s call with Taiwan’s President Tsai Ing-Wen. Pavel spoke with Tsai on Monday, a highly unusual move given the lack of formal ties and a diplomatic coup for Taipei that is likely to anger China. The two leaders stressed their countries’ shared values of freedom, democracy and human rights during their 15-minute call, their offices said, and Pavel said he hoped to meet Tsai in the future. China claims the self-ruled island of Taiwan as a province and most countries’ leaders avoid high-level public interactions with Taiwan and its president, not wishing to provoke China, the world’s second-largest economy. In Beijing’s first response to what could become a full-blown diplomatic row with Prague, the Chinese foreign ministry said Pavel had previously said during his election campaign that the One-China Principle should be respected. “The Chinese side…is currently seeking verification with the Czech side, (we) hope the Czech side strictly upholds the One-China Principle,” the foreign ministry said. Beijing views Taiwan as being part of “one China” and demands other countries recognise its sovereignty claims, which Taiwan’s democratically-elected government rejects. The Czech Republic, like most...
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